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An area of the tenacious woods fire in the Sampson area escaped the fire lines overnight in the Penley Road area, and the NC Forest Service is burning out about 10 acres this morning to create a larger buffer around the fire. Six fire departments from Watauga, Wilkes and Caldwell
spent much of Saturday on the scene of that large woods fire on the border area of the three counties, with Stewart Simmons called out early Saturday to the fire, bordered by Paisley Ridge Road, Rock House Road, and Penley Road. Stewart Simmons was soon joined by Blowing Rock, Boone, Champion, Yadkin Valley, Patterson, and the NC Forest Service and aided by the Red Cross and Watauga Rescue in the firefighting effort. Numerous smoke reports were phoned in due to the remote fire, which spread to 75 acres, most calls turning out to be the fire in the Sampson area. But with ashes being blown even into Boone from the fire, each call had to be investigated, sometimes taking away from the effort at the scene. With the dry, windy conditions contributing to the danger and the spread of the fire, even though contained, spotters stayed on the fire all night, with again, a break-out to be handled this morning with a 10-acre burn out. A number of departments to return crews to the scene today for mop-up.